Religion and ritual in prehistory

The Typology of the Anthropomorphic Figurines From Northeastern Bulgaria

by Ivan Vajsov

The article presents the principles for classification of Neolithic anthropomorphic sculpture in Bulgaria (SE Europe). As historiography, here are the views of Bulgarian authors on this issue. For the examples used unpublished anthropomorphic figurines Northeastern Bulgaria (from Samovodene, Kachitsa, Hotnitsa-Orlovka, etc.) and there are many citations to previous publications (Usoe, Hamangia culture, etc.). Here is presented a hierarchical structure in which typological tures to handle complex of prehistoric anthropomorphic figurines. Presented a hierarchical structure serves as the basis for the study of prehistoric anthropomorphic sculpture in Bulgaria, and numerical codes presented here are based on statistical processing.

At the beginning of the article briefly outlines and chronological framework of the earliest (monochrome) in the Balkans Neolithic (6500-6000 cal. BC).

Technologies of Sound across Aegean Crafts and Mediterranean Cultures

by Manolis Mikrakis

in: Ann Brysbaert (ed.), Tracing Prehistoric Social Networks through Technology: A Diachronic Perspective on the Aegean, Routledge Studies in Archaeology, New York and London: Routledge 2011, 48–71

In performative arenas of the Bronze Age Aegean where cult, the formation of social identities and the legitimisation... more In performative arenas of the Bronze Age Aegean where cult, the formation of social identities and the legitimisation of power intersected, encounters with organised sound were closely intertwined with technological, artistic, symbolic and socio-political configurations. Based on new evidence for Egyptian-influenced percussion clappers from Akrotiri, Thera, and the analytical concepts of chaîne opératoire, cross-craft and cross-cultural interaction, the present paper explores this intertwining to demonstrate how the study of auditory practices can add to an embodied understanding of human experience in Aegean prehistory.

Bronzezeitliche Funde aus der Ljubljanica : Opfer, Überreste von Bestattungen oder zufällige Verluste?. Archäol. Korrespondenzbl., 2004, 34, hf. 1, p. 37-50.

by Andrej Gaspari

A possible multiperiod ritual site in the river Ljubljanica. In: TEEGEN, Wolf-Rüdiger (ed.). Studien zur Lebenswelt der Eisenzeit : Festschrift für Rosemarie Müller, (Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Bd. 53). Berlin: De Gruyter, 2006, p. 7-17.

by Andrej Gaspari

Les Ihizi: et si un mythe basque remontait à la préhistoire? - Mythologie Française, 246, 2012: 64-67.

by Julien d'Huy

Co-authored with Jean-Loïc Le Quellec
http://www.mythofrancaise.asso.fr/

New Light on Phaistos Disc. The Rediscovery of an ancient Ritual

by Roberta Rio

Göbekli Tepe – insanlığın ilk kutsal anıtı

by Oliver Dietrich

co-authored with Ç. Köksal-Schmidt, C. Kürkcüoglu, J. Notroff, K. Schmidt

Aktüel Arkeoloji 26, Mart-Nisan 2012, 52-55.

A short account of some recent finds from Göbekli - in Turkish. A short account of some recent finds from Göbekli - in Turkish.

An explanation to the depictions of humans touching animals. - Sahara, 22, 2011: 176.

by Julien d'Huy

www.saharajournal.com/

Du Sahara au Nil: la faible représentation d'animaux dangereux dans l'art rupestre du désert Libyque pourrait être liée à la crainte de leur animation. - Les Cahiers de l'AARS, 13, 2009: 85-98.

by Julien d'Huy

Co-authored with Jean-Loïc Le Quellec
http://aars.fr/

Fuyant l’aridification de leur territoire pour rejoindre les régions plus clémentes de la vallée du Nil, peut-être en... more Fuyant l’aridification de leur territoire pour rejoindre les régions plus clémentes de la vallée du Nil, peut-être en empruntant ce qui allait devenir la piste d’Abū Ballās, les habitants du Djebel el-’Uweynāt et du Gilf Kebīr auraient emporté avec eux leur crainte de représenter des animaux dangereux.

Fleeing the increasing aridity of their territory in order to reach the more favourable regions of the Nile valley, perhaps following what was to become the Abu Ballas track, the inhabitants of the Djebel el-‘Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir may have taken with them their fear of representing dangerous animals.

From the Sahara to the Nile - The low representation of dangerous animals in the rock art of the Libyan desert could be linked to the fear of their animation. - Translated by Geoffrey Kolbe. - Les Cahiers de l'AARS, 13, 2009: 85-98.

by Julien d'Huy

Traduction de l'article "Du Sahara au Nil - La faible représentation d'animaux dangereux dans l'art rupestre du désert Libyque pourrait être lié à la crainte de leur représentation" - Cahiers de l'AARS 13: 85-98.

English translation of the paper "Du Sahara au Nil - La faible représentation d'animaux dangereux dans l'art rupestre du désert Libyque pourrait être lié à la crainte de leur représentation" - Cahiers de l'AARS 13: 85-98.

Fleeing the increasing aridity of their territory in order to reach the more favourable regions of the Nile valley,... more Fleeing the increasing aridity of their territory in order to reach the more favourable regions of the Nile valley, perhaps following what was to become the Abu Ballas track, the inhabitants of the Djebel el-‘Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir may have taken with them their fear of representing dangerous animals.

Göbekli Tepe – insanlığın ilk kutsal anıtı

by Jens Notroff

(with O. Dietrich, Ç. Köksal-Schmidt, C. Kürkcüoglu, K. Schmidt), Aktüel Arkeoloji 26, Mart-Nisan 2012, 52-55.

Some notes about and a short account of recent finds and research results from the Early Neolithic hill sanctuary at... more Some notes about and a short account of recent finds and research results from the Early Neolithic hill sanctuary at Göbekli Tepe (in Turkish).

Broderick, L.G., 2012. Ritualisation (or The Four Fully-Articulated Ungulates of The Apocalypse). In Pluskowski, A. ed. The Ritual Killing and Burial of Animals: European Perspectives. Oxford: Oxbow Books. pp. 22-32

by Lee Broderick

Hands stencils in the Cosquer Cave: men and/or women?

by Arnaud Noury

Bronze sword of the Arco type from the Sava river near Gornje Pijavško (Posavje, Slovenia). V: RADIĆ ROSSI, Irena, GASPARI, Andrej, PYDYN, Andrzej (eds.). Proceedings of the 13th annual meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (Zadar, Croatia, 18-23 September 2007) : session: Underwater archaeology. Zagreb: Hrvatsko arheološko društvo, 2008, p. 267-280

by Andrej Gaspari

The Ljubljanica River. Evidence for a Late Iron Age Ritual Site in the South-eastern Alps (Slovenia). - In: Stefan Groh, Helga Sedlmayer (Hrsg.), Blut und Wein. Keltisch-römische Kultpraktiken, Protohistoire Européenne 10, p. 141–153, Montagnac 2007.

by Andrej Gaspari

Chapple, R. M. 2011 'Irish National Strategic Research (INSTAR) Programme- Findings From the First Phase 2008-2011. Review' Blogspot post

by Robert M Chapple

Les Ihizi: et si un mythe basque remontait à la préhistoire?

by Jean-Loïc Le Quellec

Avec Julien d'Huy, in Bulletin de la Société de Mythologie Française 246 (2012): 64-67.

Quand folklore, art pariétal et génétique pointent vers une très haute ancienneté de certaines traditions toujours... more Quand folklore, art pariétal et génétique pointent vers une très haute ancienneté de certaines traditions toujours vivantes...

Die Idole aus den Gräberfeldern von Durankulak (Bulgaria)

by Ivan Vajsov

The context of the open grave in closed complexes idols and cult objects from Durankulak (Bulgaria) throws further light on the complex problems of the interpretation of prehistoric anthropomorphic figurines in Europe.

Origins of writing: magic or accountancy?

by Christopher Josiffe

This article will discuss the origins and development of some ancient writing systems. The origins of the Sumerian... more This article will discuss the origins and development of some ancient writing systems. The origins of the Sumerian syllabogram system will be examined, focussing on the work of Denise Schmandt-Besserat, who argued that the earliest Sumerian pictograms were derived from clay trading tokens, linked to an emergent trade economy in the ancient Near East, with the consequent need for a written method of accounting. But such an economic origin may not be applicable to all ancient writing systems. The Chinese ‘oracle-bone’ script, Easter Island rongorongo tablets, and the controversial Balkan ‘Old European’ script espoused by Marija Gimbutas (and others) will all be examined, in an attempt to demonstrate that, outside the ancient Near East, magico-religious imperatives may have been the driving forces behind the rise of these other writing systems.

Le mythe ovidien de Pygmalion trouverait l’une de ses origines dans la Berbérie préhistorique. - Les Cahiers de l'AARS, 15, 2011: 19-25.

by Julien d'Huy

http://aars.fr/

Résumé : Deux récits, l’un grec, l’autre kabyle, racontent le trouble érotique suscité par une statue, l’animation de... more Résumé : Deux récits, l’un grec, l’autre kabyle, racontent le trouble érotique suscité par une statue, l’animation de cette dernière, et posent la question d’un mariage entre l’image et son créateur. Nous montrerons que ces deux récits forment un groupe de transformation, et que l’un ne peut être pensé sans l’autre, puis nous chercherons à déterminer lequel des deux fut premier. Le récit kabyle est probablement antérieur à l’expansion musulmane et à son iconoclasme. Or, à cette époque, le mythe ovidien, qui ne se développe réellement qu’à partir du Moyen Âge européen, n’était pas suffisamment célèbre pour être adopté en Afrique du Nord via l’influence romaine. Ajoutons que le judaïsme, religion iconoclaste, était alors très répandu parmi les Berbères. Les seules périodes ayant permis un transfert de mythe grâce à un contact régulier, direct ou non, entre la culture grecque et les Berbères sont la Cyrénaïque et la civilisation carthaginoise ; cette époque, entre le VIIe et le Ier siècle BCE, précède l’écriture des Métamorphoses. Le récit berbère serait donc premier, et aurait essaimé par la suite en Grèce. Nous serions ici face à un mythe préhistorique, susceptible d’éclairer certains aspects de l’art rupestre saharien.